Sent
by DephsXylex
Summary: When the Dark Master's break free, the Chosen have to band together to take them out again, but nothing is as easy when you're an adult. Multiple pairings Trigger warning: self-injury
1. Enter Chosen

So, it's been a few years, but I'm hoping to get back into writing. This is something I've wanted to do for about a decade now and just never got around to doing. Things are going to get pretty crazy and more than a little angsty, so strap in and enjoy.

Disclaimer: There will be depictions of sex and self-injury. I do not own digimon, it belongs to Toei and Bandai I do believe. I am not profiting from this fic, just trying to improve my writing skills in hope of one day getting published.

Age chart

Jyou- 22

Matt, Tai, Sora-21

Mimi, Koushiro- 20

Miyako- 19

Daisuke, Ken, Takeru, Hikari- 18

Iori-16

Now that that is over, on to the story.

Enter Chosen

It looked like I had walked out of my own personal hell and into a real one. My haven was in turmoil, under attack by an unknown force yet again. Whoever it was had sent a host of Seahomon, champion level, virus digimon. They were beastly little creatures and ones I personally didn't want to deal with.

"Gennai, what the fuck is going on here? Why the hell are Seahomon attacking your house? And why the hell did you call all twelve of us here?" my oblivious brother and our esteemed leader asked our mysterious mentor and friend, Gennai. Gennai, a man that was currently in his twenties, with short light brown hair and a cream robe on was standing next to the twenty-one year old chosen with wild coffee colored hair, still in his uniform from college varsity soccer practice.

"Yeah, what the fuck, Gennai? Why didn't you just call us? We can take care of these beasts outside your house,"Motomiya Daisuke, our younger "leader" and my brothers clone, said. He was wearing a new pair of goggles that Taichi had gotten him for his birthday in order to get his old ones back. He had auburn hair that was just as wild, but more all over the place than his role-models. He too was in his practice gear, for the high school soccer team. Both he and Ichijoji Ken, resident boy genius, were on the team and fighting for a scholarship to play with Taichi.

"Boys, boys, settle down and take a seat, all of you." Gennai said. He waited as we all found a clear spot to plant ourselves, bumping as jostling as we went. A good minute or two later, he continued, "As you can see we are under attack. Although I know it was said to be impossible, the Dark Masters have returned. They have found a hole in your seal, a hole where the ninth crest should have been." It took a second for that to settle in. Ninth crest? There hadn't been a ninth crest. There were eight chosen children, but then it dawned on me, kindness. There was a crest of kindness.

"But Ken never actually had a crest, a physical one that is," Takaishi Takeru, my best friend and boyfriend interjected. He looked insanely like his older brother with a few minor differences. Takeru's skin was darker than Matt's and is eyes were completely different, both darker and entirely another shape. He kept his blonde hair cropped shorter and always wore a hat over it, making it hard to see.

"You are correct, he never actually had a physical crest. That does not mean that one did not exist," Gennai said. He leaned against the wall and bit the side of his cheek, waiting for our reactions.

"Ok, so we'll go bag these Dark Masters and get on with it. We're stronger than they are. Let's go kick their ass and be done with them!" Dai said. It was the simple answer. It was a very Daisuke answer, just ready to go out and get it done. If it were that easy we wouldn't be here like this though. Gennai would have just told us that straight from the start. Gennai was holding back on us, I could see it in his eyes.

"I wish it were that easy Daisuke, but there is more to this story," he said, sighing softly. Pain flashed across his face, probably from having to put us through all this again. "The Dark Masters broke all of the crests when they went through the hole. The crests have returned here, but in their original form. They are dust now, each in their own boxes." I looked down at the floor, my chest tightening. There was no way for us to carry around dust in the Digital World. A stiff breeze would carry them away, if we didn't lose them in the melee first. "There is some good news though; I have found a process that makes it so that you can use them again. The downfall to this is that you will no longer be able to Jogress evolve or use your digieggs any longer." The room went silent as the eight of us with these abilities realized just what this meant.

Ishida Yamato, my boyfriend's older brother and my brother's best friend, glanced over at the wild haired, soccer boy and he glanced back. In that look they had a whole conversation. They had been able to do this since Matt and his digimon partner, a white and blue striped horned wolf, Gabumon, had tried to kill Taichi and his orange dinosaur partner, Augumon. Their partners were exactly the same and just shrugged at each other. All four of them nodded at the same time.

"We'll do it. We'll lose Jogress. It's better than losing the digital world, our world," Matt told us all.

"I'll give it up too," Takeru and I both said at the same time. We turned to look at each other and grinned. Hope and light. We went hand in hand. It was the biggest shock to everyone that we didn't Jogress. Patamon, Takeru's brown and cream-colored flying pig digimon and Gatomon, my white and purple cat digimon looked at each other and smiled too. They liked the forms they were giving up, but they had also given up their ultimate forms all those years ago, forms they had always preferred. At least this time they knew they were going to gain something tangible in return.

"No!" I heard a girl yell at us from the other end of the room. I grimaced. Inoue Miyako, the oldest of the new set of chosen, Her brown eyes had turned red, as had her face. Her hair was shorter than it was when I first met her, but still a beautiful lavender color. She was clenching and unclenching her hands, probably trying to keep her anger in check, but it didn't seem to be working. Ken, her boyfriend put a hand on her arm, but she shrugged it off and started walking toward me.

"How can you give up Jogress? And how can you expect the rest of us to give up digivolving? Even if you give up your digieggs, you gain your Ultimate forms again. What do we get? The ability to evolve to champion? What good is that going to do?" she said in carefully controlled tones, her anger boiling just beneath it. I shrugged and opened my mouth to answer her, but Armadillomon beat me to it.

"Gennai, why do we have to lose this in the first place? Aren't our Jogress forms more powerful than our ultimate forms?" he questioned.

"Forgive me for not explaining thoroughly enough, Armadillomon." Gennai said with a nod. "Koushiro, may I please borrow your tablet?"

"Of course, Gennai. You know that it is yours just as much as it is mine." Izumi Koushiro, a smaller, auburn haired boy, opened his messenger bag and pulled out his tablet, passing it to Gennai. He had upgraded from his large Pineapple laptop years ago and was now using one of their state of the art tablets, although he had a larger desktop at home. The poor Pineapple computer of his past was now sitting on the desk in the room Tai and I shared when he was home.

Whatever program it was that Gennai had to install it only took him a few moments to do and was instantly run and projected on the wall behind the tablet. "The Dark Masters came through the barrier one week ago at midnight. When they appeared, they looked differently than the last time you saw them. They are now Ventriloquistmon, MechaSeadramon, WarMugandramon and Jestermon." As each of the names was said, the corresponding digimon's picture came up on the wall. Ventriloquistmon looked like a Ventriloquists dummy, blue suit, pasty white skin, the works. MechaSeadramon was similar to the other Seadramon's with the addition of some rockets added to his underside and his colors change to black and red. WarMugandramon had taken a slimmer more streamlined form with more guns, although I never would have dreamed such a thing possible. Finally there was Jestermon, the greatest of the Dark Masters. He, of course, looked like a Jester. His garb before was mostly black and white, but his new form had a lot of color in it. He was quite scary with a murderous look on his face. He would be the hardest to beat yet again, but this was the least of our concerns. How we were going to expect to beat them at all was a bigger problem.

"What are these things? How could they digivolve past Mega? What hope do we even have in winning when the only two that can even get to Mega are Tai and Matt?" Sora shot off her questions rapid fire, not even taking a breath as she spit them all out.

"Slow down, Sora, one question at a time. These digimon have somehow digivolved to the Celestial level, something I didn't even believe was possible. I have no idea how it happened, but I do believe that all nine of you will now be able to digivolve to the mega level, as soon as you can prove yourselves. Your crests have been returned to their purest forms you see. This gives you extra power. And- Taichi Yagami, will you quit pouting over there until I finish?" My brother, who had been growing grumpier with every word to come out of Gennai's mouth, looked approriately chagrined at the rebuke, so Gennai continued. "That should give all nine of you the chance to Digivolve to Mega, except for Agumon and Gabumon. You two will get the chance to Digivolve even further. You will get the chance to Digivolve to Celestial level." Tai Agumon turned to each other and gave a high-five, while Matt and Gabumon tried to hide their grins from their antics.

"Now before you cheer too much, you need to know how I'm going to make it possible for you to get your crests back. You still can't exactly carry them around as a dust, not to mention that there's a problem with them not working as they are.

"As I said earlier, the crests are currently a fine dust. You can't keep them on you this way; you'll quickly lose them. The only way to make them transportable is to take the digieggs and crack them open. Like a normal egg, there's fluid inside. You mix this fluid with powder and inject it into the chosen's arm to which the crest corresponds. Ken, will you come up here please."

"Yes, sir," he said to Gennai, then he turned to Daisuke, "Dai, I'm sorry I didn't talk to you about this first."

"I needed a willing subject to test this theory on. Ken and Wormmon agreed to potentially give up all of their evolutions for the chance to save the Digital World. Ken, show them your wrist." Ken quickly obliged. The crest of kindness shone against his milky white skin.

"Whoa! No need to apologize to me. That looks awesome. I'd kill to have one of those. Tell me what I have to do to help," Dai said. He was almost bursting with excitement. The ache in ,y chest told me it wasn't going to stay that way.

"I'm going to need all of your D3's and digivices," Gennai said. He picked up a basket and handed it to Gabumon, who dutifully began walking around the room to collect what he needed.

All around me people began pulling D3's and digivices out of pockets and purses. I grabbed mine off of my belt. It didn't fit in my pocket and I liked it to have it where I could touch it. It helped keep the darkness at bay.

Eleven devices were in the basket. I looked over at the only person who hadn't put theirs in yet. Miyako had a stubborn set to her face and I wasn't sure if there wasn't going to be a brawl over this. My eyes slid over to Tachikawa Mimi, the currently blonde hair fashionista, her hands were planted firmly on her khaki shorts and sky colored tank with her vicious designer nails just peeking out from under her plaid jacket. Takenouchi Sora, my fiery eventual sister-in-law, looked more relaxed, but her dirt and grass stained soccer uniform was no less menacing. If Miyako didn't stop being selfish, there would be hell to pay.

"I'm not giving up my D3," Miyako told them, "Seven of you should be able to handle them."

"Now listen here," Mimi said, taking a threatening step forward. Sora gently grabbed her by the arm, holding her back. Mimi had found herself a brutal streak sometime when she was in America. She didn't let it out to play often, she preferred that people think of her as the ditzy fashionista, but that didn't mean that she couldn't take someone out, mentally, emotionally or physically.

"Miya?" Hawkmon said, placing his wing on her thigh. Hawkmon was Gatomon's Jogress partner and Miyako's digimon partner, "Even if you don't give your digieggs up I won't be able to Digivolve anymore. If you don't love your team or our world than how do you expect me to use the digiegg of love? If you were never sincere when you said all of the things you've said about the Digital world than how do you expect me to use the digiegg of sincerity? You can't use your digieggs either way. At least help save the digital world." I looked at the little hawk, grateful for his speech. Without Mimi and Sora this task would be damn near impossible. We're a team; it's all or none.

Miyako also looked down at her partner, glowering at him. I could tell she was about to eviscerate to Hawkmon, but then she actually considered his words. She dug her D3 out of her purse and tossed it in the basket. As she stalked out of the room, I heard sighs of relief echo from my fellow chosen. We were going to be able to do this.

"For the time being you all can do whatever you wish. I have to do some modifications to Koushiro's tablet and all of your digivices, especially you three," Gennai motioned to Ken, Takeru and me, "I have to completely revert your D3's back to their original digivice shapes." We were even going to get our original digivices back. Maybe this day wasn't going to be as bad as most.

"Ummm... Gennai sir?" Kido Jyou, our blue haired, doctor-to-be, asked. He was still in a lab coat from college. He was fast-tracking it through college and he was going to graduate well before his peers.

"Yes Jyou?"

"Well, I was wondering if I might be able to return to our world and gather some supplies. Medical supplies in particular. I want to make sure we can take care of any minor injuries that we may incur."

"I have you taken care of already, Jyou. I had been afraid of another attack such as this one, so I have been stockpiling equipment. It's in the other room," the older man said. "The room where you younger three will be staying. I'm sorry I can't be more accommodating, but unfortunately there are only a few rooms in this house."

"I can't stay here!" Dai popped up from where he was sitting. He was taking being left out of the adventure surprisingly well, but having to stay in the digital world? That was one step too far. "We have a soccer tournament tomorrow morning. Ken and I are the star players and there are going to be scouts, if Ken come I at least have to be there."

"The time rate has slowed yet again, Daisuke. No need to worry, you'll be back before anyone misses you."

Dai looked at Gennai like he had lost all sense. "How do you know the time ratio is different? Its not like you can change it or anything."

Gennai gave the teen a gentle smile. "No, but I do have contact with the ones who can. The sovereigns have done this to allow you as much time as needed here to defeat the Masters again. They would like the Digital World to be back at peace."

"Fine, but I swear, if I miss my game and my shot at getting a scholarship, it's you I'm coming after."

"Don't worry, Daisuke, I'm sure you won't be the only one," he said, chuckling quietly. Daisuke grumbled something, then headed off towards the room that Gennai had told us about. Inside were twelve black backpacks and twelve thermal sleeping bags, each embroidered with our crests. I went and checked mine out. Inside was about what I had expected. A nice black fleece pullover and some other clothes for various weather, some markers, pens, pencils and a notebook. There was a large knife tucked in with some other survival items. There were some personal hygiene products, including some of the feminine variety, which I quickly tucked away. Gennai had obviously wanted to be prepared for anything.

After checking my whole bag I brought the knife back out and studied it carefully. It was a Buck brand knife from what it said on the handle. The blade was about four inches long, the handle about another three and a half. I came with a leather sheath. The blade was sharp. I was happy; I hadn't had time to grab my own from my house seeing as I had got the message on the way home. I figured I'd be home in a few hours. I put the knife on my belt, happy to have the weight there again.

An arm wrapped around my my waist and pulled me close. I sunk into my boyfriend's chest, inhaling his spicy scent.

"Hey there, sexy. Are you ready for another adventure?" he asked, nuzzling my neck.

"Leave space for Jesus there kids," Tai said from behind us. Takeru let me go with a roll of his eyes.

"Really Tai? None of us are Christian." Tai had picked up some American sayings the last time we were over there. We'd spent the entire summer the year before on tour with The Teenage Wolves, so he'd had plenty of time to learn them. I knew he'd been dying to use that one.

"That doesn't mean that you shouldn't respect people who are," he said solemnly. I pinched the bridge of my nose and took a deep breath.

"If I kill you before we even set out, we'll be down a celestial digimon and the Dark Masters almost killed us last time. I have to remember that." Tai laughed, a booming sound in the small room.

"You're right. Let's hope no one gets killed on this adventure." Tai's eyes slid to where Takeru's hands were still resting on my hips.

"Yagami Taichi, you've known Takeru since he was eight. We've been dating for three years. If his intentions weren't honorable, I'm pretty sure that the best basketball player at Odaiba High could have found an easier mark."

"You never know what might happen when you finally give it up and you never know what I'll do to if he hurts you because of it," he said with a wink as he walked off to find his own girlfriend. I almost choked, but managed to turn it into a cough. I wasn't sure what kind of saint Tai thought I was, but Takeru and I had shared a bed the whole time we were in America and we did so in all senses of the word.

"What is he going to do when he realizes that you aren't saving yourself for marriage?" Takeru whispered in my ear.

"Hopefully we never have to find out," I whispered back. I extricated myself from my lover's arms. "I'll be right back. I need to use the little ladies room before we get started."

"Don't worry about it, Kari. It happens. I'll be here when you get back." Takeru being here when I got back from the bathroom would never be a concern. If he found out what I was doing in there though? I had no idea if he'd stick around for that.

It had not been a good day. I bombed my English test, even though I spoke it nearly as fluently as I did Japanese. I was about to drop from lack of sleep, although that was par for the course. Between the Digital World, my childhood illnesses and the ever creeping darkness, I'm not sure that I had ever slept well. I was looking forward to spending time with Takeru at lunch, but he wasn't there today. He had to finish up a chemistry lab and I was forced to deal with the basketball and soccer teams during lunch without him. Daisuke was there, but that didn't actually make anything better. Although he had given up on me, he riled up the other boys. There were a few other girls that were there, but I wasn't friends with any of them. They were the popular cheerleader type and I just wasn't. It was then that I to face the bitch of my school, also known as my math teacher followed by a sub who tried to take my D Terminal away, but got my cell phone instead. My mom was going to have to go pick it up and I was dreading having to tell her. Honestly, being told that the Digital World was turning into a dumpster fire again was the highlight of the day.

I entered the tiny bathroom attached to the room that Daisuke, Miyako and Iori would be sharing. I was careful to lock the door, double checking it before sitting down on the toilet seat and pulling a small razor blade out of my wallet. I studied it, psyching myself up for what I was about to do. It was just a thin piece of metal, nothing fancy, but it was my lifeline. It was the only thing that helped keep the darkness at bay.

I took off my jacket and hung it gently on the door before settling myself on to the toilet. I tugged at my sweatband and it fell down to my wrist, revealing the still pink lines of new skin from where I'd done this before. I looked at the blade again, before bringing it down and slowly, methodically dragging it across my skin. I pulled the razor back, hardly even noticing the pain. Little droplets of crimson appeared on my arm as I watched. I let it pool until it was just about to run down my arms before mopping it up with a few squares of toilet paper. I applied pressure until the bleeding slowed and eventually stopped. I savored the lasting sting of the cut and the release of the anxiety that had been wrapping it's way around my heart. I flushed away the evidence of what I had done and washed my hands before sliding my razor back into my wallet and sliding my band back into place, lest anyone suspect anything. I grabbed my jacket and walked out the door, high as a kite and into my boyfriend's waiting arms.

"Are you better now?" he asked me, giving me his small, lopsided smile.

"Loads. Is Gennai almost done yet?" I asked. Now that the deed was done I wanted to get out of here.

"He's talking to Jyou right now. I think he's going to be the one performing the injections. Koushiro's out there too, extracting and cracking the digieggs," he told me.

I looked around the room, surveying the crowd. Everyone else was here and almost everyone was in high spirits. Tai, Sora, Dai and all the digimon were playing their version of hackey sack, a game about keeping a bag in the air without using hands, Matt was getting accustomed to a new harmonica, Iori was playing around on his own tablet and Mimi was sketching out some new fashion drawings. All this was taking place while Miyako sat in the corner and sulked over the loss of her digieggs while Ken did his best to console her. It didn't seem like he was doing a particularly great job, but I suspected that all of this had less to do with digieggs and more to do with the fact that her boyfriend was going off into danger while she was forced to sit here and just wait for us to play heroes. I sighed. Sora and Mimi were otherwise engaged and not exactly pleased with who took their place. I was going to have to be the one to talk to her.

Ken saw me coming and moved away, grateful to have somebody else to try and deal with Miyako, "This depression doesn't have anything to do with digieggs or Jogress, does it?"

"What do you mean? What else could it have to do with?" she looked away as she spoke, not wanting me to see the truth in her pale eyes.

"This is about Ken leaving. You can't stand the fact that he's leaving and you have no idea when he's coming back. At least if you're with him fighting evil digimon you know what's going on." I decided to be blunt. I may have been feeling better, but that didn't mean that I was feeling good or that I was really up for keeping her happy.

"It is, Kari. As a matter of fact, I'm not even going to say anything more to you at this point. You gave us up."

I grit my teeth. I really wasn't the right person to try and deal with her pettiness today. "Fine, suit yourself, Miyako, but he's leaving either way and sitting here isn't going to make the most of the time he's here. You'll regret it when we leave."

I went and stood next to Takeru and joined in on the game, even though I was objectively terrible at it. Luckily Jyou saved me from making too big of a fool of myself.

"Ummm... Can the girls please come into the other room please? Gennai thinks it would be best if you three went first." We excused ourselves and followed Jyou back into the other room. I smiled to myself as Mimi looked Koushiro up and down while he was busy tapping away at his tablet. She turned a deep crimson as she realized I had taken notice. It didn't seem like a likely pair, the beauty and the geek, but Koushiro had grown into himself over the past decade and I happened to know that Mimi was more into geeky things than she let on. She had seen all of the Marvel movies and she was part of Koushiro's Dungeons and Digimon campaign, not to mention all the anime she watched and how she could wipe the floor with both Matt and Tai at Super Smash Brothers. It was only a matter of time. Sora caught my eye and gave me a wink. It was definitely in the works.

"So, which one of you wants to go first?" Koushiro asked, finally looking up from his screen. Mimi and Sora gave a sort of sideways glance towards me, so I stepped forward, channeling my brother's crest, as I often did.

"I'll go first. I'm sure I've had worse," I said. Mimi and Sora paused, taking my measure. They had expected some resistance to even the thought that I should go first. I was the youngest and one of the others probably should have been brave enough to go first, but it didn't bother me. I shrugged at them. I guess that taking a blade to yourself takes some of the fear out of it shots.

"It is fairly painless. The crest is generally an extension of you soul, so it causes no pain going in, unlike some other shots. The needle is the smallest we could find. At worst it would feel like a bee sting," he raised his wrist to show that he had already braved it himself. A tiny purple crest of knowledge had appeared in all its glory. Jyou lifted his wrist to reveal that he too had his done, a small grey crest of reliability right in the center. If it weren't for the colors, I'd have thought they were birthmarks.

"Uh, Kari? Which side do you want it on?" Jyou inquired.

"My right." It was more dangerous, but it was a little thrilling, the chance of being caught. Jyou didn't even look twice at the band, he just swiped an antiseptic wipe over and pushed the needle into my skin. I could feel the crest working it's way through my veins. It wasn't uncomfortable, more of a warm, fulfilling sensation, like a part of me that was missing had come back.

"Wait for just a few minutes and your crest should appear," Jyou told me as he wiped the area clean again. The small hole had already disappeared. "So who's next? Sora? Mimi?"

"I'll go," Mimi volunteered. She walked over and plopped down into the chair next to me. Koushiro watched her carefully as Jyou repeated the procedure on Mimi. It was definitely only a matter of time.

I looked back to my own wrist. I could faintly see the crest of light showing up. Gatomon hopped up on to the back of the chair I was sitting on. She looked down at the little pink mark. Although most of the others didn't know, Taichi, Yamato, Takeru and I had a tattoo. The four of us got all nine of the crests in a warrior band one night when we were drunk. It was a chore keeping it hidden from everyone, but we had managed to for the past year. There wasn't really any reason that Tai and Matt had to keep them hidden, but Takeru and I did. We'd get grounded and I need to be able to see TK and the other chosen, so we all kept our secret in the interest of having some freedom. The less people that knew, the less people that could slip up, which is what Gatomon proceeded to do/.

Gatomon put if paws on my shoulder and sighed, "I never did understand you humans and your tattoo's. You'd think you would have learned from the last one, Hikari. I mean…" I shoved my hand over Gatomon's mouth, but it was too late, the whole room had heard.

"You have a tattoo? Since when?" she asked, her eyes narrowing. She was my best friend and hopefully my future sister-in-law and I did tell her just about everything, as did my brother.

I glared at my digimon, "This is not a tattoo, Gatomon, this is my crest. You remember that thing that makes you Digivolve to Angewoman? Did you listen to Gennai at all?" I hissed. Agumon, who we were worried about, kept his mouth shut, Gatomon, the digimon that we had absolutely no worries over, had just blabbed it.

She shrugged, "I learned I could digivolve to Ultimate again and finally Mega and then I fell asleep. I figured you would condense it for me later. I was missing my cat nap."

"Yoo hoo? Hikari? What is this about a tattoo? I've heard nothing about it," Mimi said as she waved her hand in front of my face. I cursed loudly and yelled for Matt, Tai and Takeru.

Five seconds later Tai was next to me, looking for the danger, Agumon right behind him, ready to pepper breath or digivolve at a moments notice. My boyfriend, his brother and their digimon were only steps behind them.

"Wha's wrong?" he asked, completely forgetting the t in what's he was so concerned.

"I'm sorry, I'm not hurt, the cat just let the cat out of the bag about this." I pulled off my jacket to reveal my Teenage Wolves tank top underneath and eight little crests. I held up my wrist to him, "She thought this was a tattoo. She fell asleep while Gennai was telling us what was going on. She heard she could digivolve and was out."

Mimi and Sora stepped forward for a closer look at my arm. Hope and light were in the center, with courage, love and reliability on the left and friendship, sincerity and knowledge on the right. There was a blank area on the inside of my arm where the tender skin was. I had been concerned about the pain. Even drunk I had some common sense.

Sora looked over at Tai. "It matches yours. Did you seriously let your seventeen year old sister get a tattoo? And then you didn't tell me about it?"

Tai's eyes widened and the gears started turning in his head, trying to figure out how to stay out of trouble on this one. It took pity on him.

"Let me? He didn't even know about it until it was halfway done. Matt and Tai did them because Takeru and I got them. We were all drinking in Los Angeles and there were some guys offering to do tattoos. Takeru and I took him up on the offer. Tai and Matt came stumbling in about halfway through and decided that they wanted them too."

Takeru and Matt took this as their cue to strip off their shirts so that the girls could see them. Takeru's was a replica of mine, but Tai and Matt had changed it so that their crests were in the center. Sora and Mimi did their best not to stare at the boys bare chest, but I had no such compunction. Takeru was the captain of the basketball team and looked every inch of it. Half the girls at school were jealous of me and I'd heard more than one wonder why he was with me, but that was one thing I'd never worried about. Takeru was mine. He might be able to do better and I definitely didn't deserve him, but there was no doubt that I was the only one he wanted.

Mimi stared at Taichi in shock, "You let her have alcohol? You weren't even legal, you'd have been in so much shit."

Tai just stared Mimi down, one of his eyebrows cocked. "How old were you in that video?"

Mimi cleared her throat. "I withdraw my question."

I had actually seen this video. Mimi had jumped off of a roof and into a pool at a party. She had broken her foot in three places and the video had spread like wildfire both through her school and ours. When asked, she said that it was worth it.

Sora wasn't going to be so easily assuaged. "Why didn't you tell me? You know that I'm not going to judge you."

"Loose lips sink ships." I flinched. Taichi had obviously spoken without thinking and if one of us didn't think quickly, there wasn't going to be anything left of us when Sora was done.

"I think what Tai meant to say was that we all decided to keep this secret so that our parents didn't find out. Takeru and Hikari are eighteen now, but they were sixteen when we got them and they none of us wanted to get in any trouble with our parents. We had decided not to say anything until they moved out."

Sora glowered, "I'm not stupid enough to say it anywhere near anyone who could get you in trouble."

I stepped in. "Its not you we were worried about. You were actually the only chosen that knew that any of us had a tattoo."

Sora was still angry, but quit glaring. This probably wasn't the last that we'd here about it from her, but at least it was the last we'd hear about it right now.

There didn't seem to be an end to the number of people who wanted to lay into us about our drunken decisions though. It was now Jyou's turn to lay into us. "You guys let somebody, who wasn't licensed, stick needles in your arm? Did he even sanitize them? Did he give you any instruction on how to take care of your tattoo so it wouldn't get infected? What would have happened if it did?"

"Jyou?" Takeru asked, hoping to stop him before he got too far into his rant. "He was licensed. The party was at his house. The parlor was next door. It wasn't one of our smartest ideas, but its ok. He sterilized everything, gave us a paper telling us what we needed to do to take care of it, which we followed to the letter. If it had gotten infected, we'd have owned up to it. It was fine."

Jyou was appeased, so I looked to Kou. "Anything to add?"

"Uh, no? You're adults and what you choose to do with your bodies is us to you." Koushiro blushed, realizing what he might have inadvertantly implied. "I mean, if you want to stick things in your bodies... no, wait."

Koushiro clamped his mouth shut, realizing that he was only making the whole things worse. He face had turned the same color as his hair. Tai was also turning red, but from trying to hold in his laughter.

"Just let it out, Tai. You'll feel better," Matt said. Tai collapsed onto the floor as peals of laughter tore from his throat. The girls and Jyou expertly ignored him, but TK and I chuckled.

"Ok, boys, which of you is next?" I hadn't noticed, but Jyou had finished up with both Mimi and Sora and had decided that he may as well get the rest of them done. Matt perked up and walked over, taking the chair that I had occupied.

Twenty minutes later, all nine of us had our crests and were ready to head out. The goodbyes had been short and sweet, although it was impossible not to notice that Miyako had decided not to see us off. I hooked my backpack over my shoulder. It was time for a new adventure.


	2. Digi-team Broken

The Digi-Team Broken

Ken POV

It had been two hours since walking away from our friends and my heart still ached. I had gotten used to traversing the Digital World with Iori, Daisuke and Miyako by my side and leaving them behind felt like a profound loss. Miyako was so upset that I wasn't sure how I was going to work this out with her and something had been going on with Iori for weeks. Him and I weren't as close, but I had my reservations about leaving him behind with things being so unclear. Daisuke was the only one who seemed to be taking this well and that was only going to last until he got bored, then he was going to be chomping at the bit to get out again. I wasn't sure how Miyako and Iori were going to deal with him once that happened, especially since they both had their own demons to contend with. Still, at least they were together.

The only thing I had going for me was that I had Takeru and Hikari, although they were so close with the older chosen that I wasn't sure how much was going to help. I was the odd man out. I hadn't been here during the original adventure and I wasn't close with any of the older chosen. Honestly, I was probably the worst choice to have to venture out with them. I played soccer with Daisuke and Tai sometimes, but Dai idolized the older boy in a way I never would. Miyako had been known to go and do girly things with Hikari, Sora and Mimi and there was even a bit of idolatry there, at least when they weren't asking her to give up her digieggs. Iori wasn't that close with anyone either, but he was the cute kid that they could take under their wing. I was just the Kaiser, the withdrawn genius and soccer player. I had never really clicked with the older chosen like some of the others had. Just my luck, I was stuck traveling with them until we could get the Digital World back in order.

Maybe if I had some special knowledge about the Dark Masters, it wouldn't be such a big deal, but literally all I had was muscle and that muscle wasn't going to get us very far when we didn't even know Stingmon's ultimate form, let alone how to use it or his mega. There was a distinct feeling of dread curling in my stomach. I was so under prepared for this that it hurt and could, quite literally, get all the rest of us hurt too. There wasn't anything that I could do about though, except to keep walking and hope that it would pass.

The trail ahead of us was worn and hard packed. I could feel every bump and divot through my shoe and it was keeping me from falling into any sort of rhythm. Still, the birds sang and the air was fresh with the sweet scents of pine needles and leaves. It reminded me that I wasn't in Tokyo. I was home.

I turned to check on Wormmon, just to find him snoozing on top of my backpack. I wasn't surprised, we hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before and there was no way to tell if we were going to need to digivolve soon. He needed to be at the top of his game and I had stamina for days due to my seemingly unending soccer practices. I could hear his soft snores behind my head and smiled to myself. I wasn't sure how he was able to forgive me for what I did to him, but I was eternally grateful that he had.

I looked around and realized that the rest of the chosen seemed to subconsciously have broken off into smaller groups. Tai, Matt, Gabumon and Agumon were huddled together at the front of the pack discussing something in hushed tones. Their faces were serious, complete with furrowed brows and thinly veiled sarcasm. TK and Kari weren't far from them, but they also weren't participating in whatever had gotten their brother's riled up. Kari had her hand wrapped around Takeru's and I was hit with a pang of jealousy, but I pushed it away. It wasn't their fault that Miyako couldn't come with us.

I heard a rustling in the trees to my right and saw that Patomon and Gatomon were flying through them, Patomon literally and Gatomon figuratively. They seemed to be using the trees as an obstacle course and I had to admit that it wasn't a terrible idea. They were going to need the reflexes when the were fighting.

I turned back to the trail. Koushiro and Jyou were going over what looked like a map on the tablet, their faces washed out by the faint glow of the screen. Tentomon buzzed softly next to Kou's head while Gomamon cracked jokes underneath of them. They were so bad that Tentomon kept missing a beat while flying and sinking a few inches before he righted himself, which only seemed to bolster Gomamon's resolve to find a worst one he could.

Mimi and Sora were laughing and talking animatedly with Palmon and Biyomon. They were trying to keep their voices down, but I could hear enough to tell that they were gossiping about something that was going on at their college. The digimon were entranced by the gossip and hanging off of the girl's every word. I had a feeling that I wouldn't be able to relate.

I looked the groups over again. None of them particularly looked like they need an extra person in them. Still, I was going to be out here with them for months. I wasn't just going to be able to hang back and keep to myself the whole time. I had gotten used to having friends and I needed them now. I was just going to have to find a way to insert myself somewhere.

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and carefully picked my way through the trail until I was walking along with Jyou and Koushiro. "Anything I can help you with?"

Jyou and Kou looked up, both of them startled by my appearance at their sides.

"Oh, hey, Ken," Koushiro said. He relaxed as he realized we weren't under attack. "We were just trying to pinpoint the areas that seem to have the most dark activity. We're going to narrow down our search radius from there. We've got a vague idea where all of the Dark Master's are located, but we want to narrow it down a little more."

"Would you like any help?" I asked. This was something that I felt confident in doing. Koushiro might be the computer expert for the group, but I was good with them as well and another pair of eyes wouldn't hurt. Even if I didn't quite fit in, I could still be helpful.

"Sure," he said, sliding the tablet into my hands. It was the latest Pineapple Tablet and it was sleek. I was running Cyborg, I preferred it's versatility, but that didn't mean I couldn't envy a fine piece of machinery.

"So, the colored dots are us. Our color corresponds to our crest. The green dots are known friendly digimon. You can see the eighteen of us grouped here and the six back at Gennai's here." Koushiro pointed at two different spots on the map. We were barely far enough apart to be discerned as two different groups, even after hours of travel. "The red ringed dots are where there's been suspicious activity. Most of them are black in the center because we aren't sure if they're from a specific Dark Master or if they're just some shady dealings. We've assigned all the other's their own color. MechaSeadramon is blue, WarMugandramon is grey, Ventriloquistmon is yellow and Jestermon is purple." There were a few dozen red ringed dots the vast majority of them had black centers. Of the ones that weren't, not a single one was purple.

I took a closer look at the map, just in case I could see some sort of pattern that they couldn't but there just wasn't enough data yet. As I studied, I watched a new dot had appear on the screen, one that was red, blinking and headed towards us fast. I stuck my finger out towards it. "What's this one?"

Koushiro grabbed the tablet and looked closely at it. His eyes widened and his head shot up. He took in a deep breath before bellowing, "Incoming!"

Everyone stopped in their tracks, their heads whipping towards Kou. He pointed in the direction of the dot and digimon took off, beginning to digivolve as they ran. Wormmon used my head as a spring board and chased after them, a warm glow encasing him as he became Stingmon.

In moments, all of our partners were digivolved, but once the others came out as champions, their crests activated, sending them straight to ultimate. I looked down at my own wrist. My crest was inert, without even a hint of shine. I cursed. Sending Stingmon out against an unknown enemy that might be multiple levels above him had not been a part of my plan, but had been one of my concerns.

I wasn't given long to fret about what was going to happen, as Okuwamon burst out of the trees and let out a deafening roar. All of the humans cringed and smashed their hands against their ears, myself included. My ears ached through my hands and I began to wonder if we had any earplugs in our bag for the future when he quieted down and I was left with just a faint ringing sound to remember it.

"Hammer boomerang!" Zudomon yelled out, surprising the silver beetle-like digimon with a hammer to the side. The force of the attack knocked him back a few feet, but the damage done to him was negligible. There was maybe a scuff, but even that was debatable.

Before Okuwamon could retaliate, Lilymon spun around. "Flower Cannon!"

A burst of light filled the area. I wanted to shut my eyes against the visual onslaught, but I didn't want to miss what happened. Okuwamon tried to dodge, but he was just too slow and the shot still managed to clip his leg. He flexed it, but it still worked just fine. It might as well have come from a rookie for all the damage it caused.

Okuwamon clicked his pincers together before he countered with double scissor claw. The attack headed straight for Zudomon, but he batted it away with his hammer. Unfortunately, he couldn't see Lilymon flying up behind him. The attack hit her in the chest, sending her flying. If the change in direction hadn't changed the force of the blow, I was sure that she would be back in her in-training form.

It had been so long since the original chosen's digimon had fought in a real battle, they were no longer in sync. Compound that with the fact that they were in a form that they hadn't been in in a decade and they weren't weak and prone to mistakes. Stingmon, MagnaAngemon and Angewoman had been in fights most recent, but Stingmon had actually defeated Okuwamon before.

"Horn buster!" I watched as MegaKabuterimon's electricity sizzled the air before bouncing off of Okuwamon's shell and scattering. Cracks could be heard echoing through the area as the bolts hit trees. They exploded on impact and sending small pieces of wood shrapnel flying around the newly made clearing.

"Celestial Arrow!" Angewoman pulled back an arrow of pure light before sending it rocketing at the fleshy part of Okuwamon's mouth. It looked like it was going to hit, but the digimon snapped his mouth shut at the last second, causing it to bounce harmlessly off of his nose. Garudamon took the chance to fly towards the insectoid digimon at full force before dropping into a nasty kick.

"Garuda Pressure!" she yelled as she fell from the sky. Her foot hit Okuwamon in the middle of the head. With a snap, Okuwamon fell from the sky, unable to keep aloft under the force of her attack. The digimon hit the ground in a heap. Garudamon rolled away as MagnaAngemon set his sights on the ultimate digimon.

"Soul Vanisher!" MagnaAngemon's sword struck the ground causing a massive shock-wave to flow through the area. The nearby trees began to wobble and fall. I braced myself for the impact, but there was no way to keep upright against that much force. All of the chosen lost their balance and tumbled to the ground. I smacked my tailbone harder than is advisable and knew that I was going to have a bruise. I doubted that the other's fared much better.

Okuwamon pushed himself onto his feet and roared out his annoyance before taking flight again. Other than a small break where Garudamon's foot had connected, it didn't seem as the Okuwamon had taken any damage. He was very near pristine.

"Terra Force!"

"Metal Wolf Claw!"

The two attacks spiraled around each other before smashing full force into Okuwamon. The digimon crashed back into the ground, eliciting a whoop and high five from Matt and Tai. As the two celebrated, I watched for the dust to clear. I had seen too many premature victory celebrations to feel confident in our victory. Sure enough, Okuwamon was staggering to his feet. With a massive shake of his silvery body, he brushed off the attack. He was looking a bit worse for wear and the fissure that Garudamon's foot made was larger, but he wasn't out of the game yet.

"Hey guys, he's still mobile!" I yelled. The words were barely out of my mouth when Okuwamon struck out with another double scissor claw. Garudamon, who was still distracted by Matt and Tai, never had a chance. The attack blindsided her. She immediately began to shrink as she tumbled out of the air. I dashed forward, trying to catch Yokomon before she crashed into the ground. I realized that I wasn't going to make it by just running and jumped forward, catching the small flowering digimon and cradling her to my chest. We hit the ground and rolled. I could feel the start of more bruises and even a few scrapes, but it didn't matter. Yokomon was safe. I sat up, checking on the unconscious digimon in my arms. She was scuffed up, but she would be fine.

Sora ran up and threw herself on the ground next to me. I gently handed her partner to her. As the little pink bulb slipped from my arms and into Sora's waiting ones, I could see a faint glowing coming from my wrist. I stared at it for a second, confused, until Sora grabbed my shoulder.

"Ken, Stingmon's digivolving," she said before turning back to Yokomon. Sure enough, Stingmon was glowing and changing shape. My crest had activated and now my partner was finally going to be able to help.

"Stingmon digivolve to... JewelBeemon!" JewelBeemon was roughly the same size and shape as Stingmon, but he had lost his black armor and his green had been lightened from a forest to a lime. Shiny yellow chitin jewels adorned his body and he was accented in red. In his hand he held a yellow staff with a vicious looking red star on the top.

JewelBeemon surged forward, engaging Okuwamon in the air. Okuwamon hadn't been paying any attention to Stingmon and there was a good chance that he was regretting that as JewelBeemon swung his staff around.

"Spike buster!" he yelled as he lodged the spike of his staff in between the break in his armor. Okuwamon howled as JewelBeemon wrenched the staff to the right. The sound of the chitin breaking was small at first, but the harder JewelBeemon pushed, the louder it got until, with a thunderous boom, I heard the chitin split apart and Okuwamon split into data, the bytes floating off to be reborn.

All that could be heard was our ragged breathing as the digimon reverted to their in-training forms. Minomon came bouncing over and threw himself out me. I quickly opened my arms and caught him. I pulled him close to me, not even minding that as the jagged edges of his shell irritated my skin through my shirt.

"Ken, did you see? I became JewelBeemon and I broke Okuwamon apart!" he said excitedly. A smile crept across my face. His energy was contagious.

"Of course I saw! You did great, Minomon. You knew exactly what to do." I released my partner and looked around the newly made clearing. Okuwamon and our other partners had done a number on the area and our digimon weren't much better off. Everyone was curled up in their partners arms and talking in hushed voices. They weren't going to be conscious much longer.

Once the adrenaline faded, Matt stood up. "I think we need to discuss what's going to happen from here. Koushiro, why didn't we have more warning?"

"This app that Gennai gave me is new and I'm not sure I have it all figured out. Ken saw that there was an incoming digimon, but there didn't seem to be any sort of alarm. I'll work on making sure that in the future we'll be notified. Regardless, I'm not sure that this was anything other than a territorial digimon. Kuwagamon and, by extension, Okuwamon are known to attack with very little provocation. This may not have anything to do with the Dark Masters," Koushiro said. He spent the entire time focused in on the tablet. He didn't even glance our way. His ability to multitask was astounding.

"I disagree. Yes, Okuwamon are aggressive, but we didn't happen upon Okuwamon, he was headed straight for us. He knew we were here. He was far too direct for this to have been an accident," I said. I saw a few people around the group nod, but Matt shook his head.

"Why does it matter? We aren't staying here. We need to get to File Island," he said, Tsunomon tucked sleepily under his arm. Everyone seemed to accept his word as law, but I wasn't sure I followed the logic.

"If there's activity here, shouldn't we stay here and see if we can't help the locals out instead wasting time going all the way out to File Island? Is there even anything that can link the Dark Masters to the island?" I asked.

"MechaSeadramon is likely to be at File Island. The first place that we ever saw any Seadramon was there and there's been enough activity there that it's the best place to check," Sora said. My brow furrowed. She was so matter of fact that I was wondering if there was just something that I was missing. The logic just didn't chart for me.

"He was also the easiest to beat, so we should take him out first," Mimi said as she twirled a lock of her honey brown hair around her finger. Tanemon was nested in her lap with her two leaves drooping over her back like a blanket as she slept.

"Do we even know he's there?" I asked. The rest of the Chosen looked slightly uncomfortable at the question, so I pinned down Koushiro with my gaze. He flushed before pulling up the map and checking. Even I could tell it was a diversionary tactic so that he could think up the best way to phrase what he wanted to say. I had seen the map. We both knew exactly what he was going to find there.

"There's nothing concrete to tie MechaSeadramon to File Island, but there are some compelling stories that have come out of the area. There is also nothing concrete to say that there's any Dark Master activity here either. I think that our best course of action is to follow up with the potential lead at File Island. It will only take us two days to get there and it will allow us to gain more information so that we can take down the Dark Masters even faster."

"How many innocent digimon are going to suffer while we're trekking across the entire Digital World?" I asked as I tried to keep a leash on my temper. It was flaring up hot and angry. I had done enough damage to this world, I wasn't going to be able to let another digimon suffer on a hunch.

Takeru stepped forward, grasping me by the shoulder and turning me away from the group. He dropped his voice so that the others couldn't hear us. "Listen, Ken, I know that things are a little different here and that you're not really a part of this group yet, but trust that we know what we're doing, ok? We've done this before."

His words sliced me like a knife. It was the exact thing that I had already been feeling. I thought that I might just be being overly sensitive, but Takeru's words had made it real. They also cleared the fog and allowed me to look at the situation more rationally.

I looked down at Minomon and his round, green face looked back at me with his large black eyes. He nodded at me. I wasn't sure that he knew what I was going to do, but he trusted me to do the right thing and that was all that mattered.

"You're right," I told him. "I'm not really a part of this group." I turned and raised my voice. "You have to do what you think is right. I have to do the same. Minomon and I will stay here. We'll gather data about what's going on around here and help the local digimon. We need more information and the two of us will be able to gather that more covertly than the nine of us together."

Takeru blanched at the same time the others began protesting my decision loudly and boisterously.

"That's not what I meant at all!" TK spluttered. The betrayal was written in every fiber of his being. No one seemed to be happy that I thought that I'd be better off alone and I was going to have to defend my position voraciously if I didn't want to end up swept away by their outrage.

"Quiet!" Tai yelled. The arguments petered out after a minute, but I could still feel the energy waiting to be unleashed upon me. "Splitting up is not the answer, Ken."

"Yes, it is. You need to go to File Island and I need to stay here. Koushiro just said we don't have enough information. I can go around and get it," I said simply. The logic seemed to have no effect, not that I thought it would.

"It's dangerous. It would just be you and Minomon. You'd have to find food and, if you got injured, there wouldn't be anyone there to administer aid," Jyou said.

"We're not Daisuke and Veemon. We can keep a low profile. I'll ask a few discreet questions and see if anyone around here needs help. We're going to avoid fighting. We might even be safer than you guys."

"How are you going to track all of the events?" Koushiro asked. "I'm going to need my tablet to track what we need to see. Even if I send you updates on your D-Terminal, how are you going to find them without the map? You can't exactly get information by just bumbling around the digital world."

I swung my backpack around and opened up the back pocket. Sitting in between a fleece pullover and some extra pants was a tablet. I slid it out of my bag and held it up. "I had Gennai put the same app on mine before we left. I'll have to alter it so that we I can know if there are any dangerous digimon nearby, but I'll have all the same information you have. I'll be able to update the map in real time and we can share information."

A sharp look came across Mimi's face, turning her normally kind and welcoming face ferocious and frightening. "Have you been planning to do this the whole time?"

I fought the temptation to take a step back, but couldn't stop myself from flinching. The venom in Mimi's voice was terrifying and I had no doubt that she was the one here that I least wanted to cross, although Sora came in at a very, very close second.

"Absolutely not. Having the data on a second tablet would ensure that we would have it if anything happened to Koushiro's tablet or we had to split up," I said. It was the truth. I didn't think that it was wise to only have one tablet with the software. I'd had it done while they were all talking in the other room. I hadn't meant it to be a secret, that was just when I had managed to corner Gennai.

Ignoring the tension all around us, Kari walked forward and gently clasped my hands in hers. Her cocoa eyes met my navy ones. I could almost feel the warmth and light radiating from her. If I hadn't known her for so many years, it would have been unnerving. "Is this what you truly want, Ken?"

I inhaled deeply, letting the bright scents of a forest in it's prime cement my decision. "It is. This is what's best for all of us and it's what's better for the digital world."

Kari squeezed my hands tightly before dropping them and turning to the rest of the group. "If he wants to go, who are we to stop him? We have our D-Terminals. We can get a hold of him if we need to and he can do the same."

The rest of the group still looked unsure of the prospect of splitting up, but Takeru stepped forward and placed Kari's hand in his own. Seeing that a quarter of them had already decided in my favor seemed to start tipping others in my direction. I watched as their faces changed from disapproving to accepting. Would any two of the chosen have been able to do this? Or did Takeru and Hikari have a special place in the group dynamics?

"When will you be leaving?" Tai asked. I looked down at Minomon. He had curled into my chest and had somehow managed to fall asleep in the middle of all of the arguing. He wasn't the only one. There were sleeping digimon everywhere.

"Minomon will be back to Wormmon in the morning. I'll be here to help with camp tonight and I'll leave first thing tomorrow."


	3. A New Digitude

_A New Digitude_

_Daisuke POV_

"V-mon, stop hogging the ball!" Hawkmon said for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past hour. I sunk to the floor, unable to deal with this any longer. It had only been about an hour and a half since our friend's had left and I was already sick of being here. Gennai was doing whatever he did, Miyako was still sulking, Iori was off on his tablet and I had been trying to teach the digimon how to balance a soccer ball on their head, but they'd spent the entire time fighting and very little of it actually listening. I had a feeling that this was what it had been like to teach a younger me. At least I was cuter.

As Hawkmon and V-mon continued to fight over the ball, I slunk over to Iori. He was sitting in the corner that he had claimed for himself. He had already laid out his sleeping bag and was propped up against his backpack with his knees cradling his tablet. Armadillomon was curled up next him. He diligently watched every move Iori made, but whether it was to learn what he was doing or because he was bored, I had no idea.

"Hey, want to go play some video games?" I asked, sticking my thumb over my shoulder and towards the video game system that was behind us.

Iori's emerald eyes drifted towards me, then drifted back down to his tablet. "I'm busy."

"Anything I can help with?" I asked as I kneeled down next to him.

He stopped and cocked an eyebrow at me. "Didn't you drop computers after you nearly caused one to explode?"

I blushed and scratched the back of my head, a light smile on my face. "Well, you know, some things aren't for everyone. I'll, uh, leave you to it."

Iori went back to his tablet as I wandered away. V-mon had thrown himself over the ball to protect it while Hawkmon swooped down on him in an effort to throw him off. V-mon and the ball wobbled, but it wasn't enough to throw him off. My head started to ache just watching them. Instead, I looked towards Miyako. She had pulled out her sleeping bag and wrapped herself up in it like it was a cocoon. She had compacted herself into it and was just a small maroon ball next to her backpack. I took a deep breath. Someone was going to have to talk to her and she'd already sent Hawkmon away. Iori was busy and the other digimon would be even worse. It looked like it was going to be my turn. I steeled my nerves and went to sit next to her.

Miyako poked just enough of her head out of the top of the sleeping bag to see who came to talk to her. When she realized it was me, her eyes narrowed behind her glasses and she started to slink back down into the bag. "Go away, Daisuke."

"Hey now, I came over to talk to you. I thought you might like some company," I said. It would have been a lot easier to just leave in a huff, but it was going to be a long few weeks if neither Iori nor Miyako were going to have anything to do with the rest of us. The best way to get through this was to just dive in head first.

"You came here because you're tired of listening to Hawkmon and V-mon fight and Iori snubbed you. I'm wallowing in despair, not deaf." I opened my mouth to start an argument, but snapped it shut again. Contrary to popular belief, I had grown up in the last few years. Miyako and I had been arguing less and both of us had become more level headed. I could still be bullheaded and she could still be over-dramatic, but neither of us were preteens anymore.

"I'm coming over here because I don't think that you're going to want to sulk this whole time and, now that everyone is gone, I imagine you're looking for a way out of this," I said. Miyako growled, but I held up my hand. "Miyako, I've known you for six years. You're the youngest of four and you have two settings. You're either loud, brash and over-confident or you're drowning in self-pity and more often than not, both are so that you can get attention. I know that you're upset, but you aren't this upset. Now, do you want to go play video games?"

Miyako's mouth fell open and the sleeping bag slipped, sliding down to rest at her elbows. I had the feeling that she was surprised that I would call her out like that. Honestly, after how much time I had spent pining after Hikari in our youth, she was probably surprised that I noticed anything about her, let alone that I had noticed something that was so deep. Ever since I had given up on that venture, I had applied that attention to the group. I may have played a fool, but that was just because that was what the team needed. They might not think of me as much of a leader, but it was only because I hadn't let them realize how much I'd grown up.

"You're wrong. I'm perfectly content to sit here and wallow in self-pity." I rolled my eyes. Stubborn. Why were so many of us so damn stubborn?

"Fine, I'll go and play on my own. I don't need anyone to play with." I started to lift myself up off of the ground, but stopped when Miyako's arm shot out and grabbed me. Her hand was soft against my wrist, but her grasp was firm enough to keep me where I was.

"I'll come play with you. I mean, there's no reason for both of us to be miserable, right?"

"Yeah, sure. Let's go find something," I said as I tried to stifle a smirk. Both of us knew that I had won; I didn't need to rub her face in it. I finished standing and helped her up. I expected her to get out of the sleeping bag, but instead she clasped it harder and wrapped her free arm around my waist.

"Onward, good steed!" she yelled, thrusting her finger towards the television. I looked over at her, unsure of what I was supposed to do. She shuffled her feet to show me how the fabric slid effortlessly against the floor.

"I am not your horse," I said flatly. She pursed her lips and glared at me, even though she knew that she couldn't sway me with a look. After a minute she finally gave in.

"Can you please take me to the tv so that I don't have to get out of this thing? I'm already in my pajamas and the shorts are a little... short."

My eyes widened at the admission. I had seen Miyako in a bikini, a fairly skimpy bikini at that. I was concerned about what she would think was short after that. "Is this something that could get us in trouble with Ken?"

She turned crimson. "What? No. It's just..." She cut her eyes over to Iori. I understood then. Sixteen year old's had needs and she did not want to be masturbation fodder for our youngest group member, especially since she was an adult.

"I can hear you both still. I have no interest in seeing you even partially naked, Miyako." The lavender haired girl turned a deep shade of crimson as laughter poured fourth from my very soul. I couldn't help it; Miyako looked like she was praying for the world to swallow her whole and spit out her bones. Mortification didn't even begin to cover it or, apparently, her as she subconsciously pulled the bag a little higher.

Figuring I could save her from her embarrassment, I took a deep breath to steady myself and, while Miyako was still distracted, took off across the room. She nearly lost her footing as the floor slid beneath her, but she managed to catch herself before she fell. I stopped a few feet in front of the television and only then did we realize our mistake. Miyako ran into me full force and lost her balance, sending both of us tumbling down onto the hard wood beneath us. Her shoulder smashed into my spine and the wind was knocked out of me. I took a few gasping breaths to try and get everything working again, but my lungs really did not want to work.

"Are we doing a dog pile?" V-mon asked. I felt Miyako shift on top of me as I tried to move and tell him that that was not, in fact, what we were trying to do, but neither of us were fast enough. I grunted as the cerulean digimon's weight joined Miyako's with the force of a small cannon ball.

It didn't take long for the weight to change again. I watched as V-mon went rolling past my face in what I could only imagine was Miyako's doing.

"We were not doing a dog pile, you cobalt dolt!" My partner hit the opposite wall with a thud. I could hear Hawkmon chuckling at him from somewhere behind me.

"Hey, Miyako, could you, you know, get off of me?" I asked. She scrambled off of me, careful to keep her sleeping bag up over her waist.

"Thank you," I said as I sat up and rubbed the soreness out of my arms and back. "Let's find something to play.

We moved to actually sit in front of the tv and started looking through games. Gennai actually had a pretty impressive collection. There were a number of games from all over the spectrum and for both the Playstation and Nintendo. We finally settled into a mindless shooter. We both need something a little more mind numbing after the day we'd had.

I grabbed my navy sleeping bag and rolled it up underneath my chest while I sprawled out on the floor. Miyako sat only a few inches away and was still curled up in the maroon monstrosity that she had claimed as her own, although she had relaxed enough that I could see the shimmery white tank she had on underneath.

It didn't take long for both of us to get into the game, including the trashiest of trash talk and some wild victory dances. Hawkmon and V-mon had decided to join in and be our own personal cheerleaders, which only made the competition more fierce. Time passed without another thought once we were in game and we didn't stop until we heard Miyako's D-Terminal beep. We finished our level and she disappeared into her bag to check it. Although the light of the screen illuminated her face, it dark as she read what was written and I internally cursed. I didn't want her going back to sulking.

"What's wrong?" I asked when she didn't say anything, but instead began typing furiously on her keypad.

"Ken's leaving the group." I gave her an odd look, sure I was mishearing her. Ken was a being of logical thought and sensible action. Leaving the group when they were so much stronger together? That didn't seem to fit the bill.

"Just Ken?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Is he coming back here at least?"

She looked up at me and the shifting waves of anger, fear and sadness in her eyes were all I needed to know. Ken was going off with Wormmon and leaving everyone else behind. Betrayal punctured my chest. I pulled out my own D-Terminal and shot off a short, but meaningful message.

_Wtf?_

It only took a second to get a reply. I had no doubt that he had been waiting for it. _I have to protect the digimon._

I glowered at the screen. _So does everyone else._

_ We have different thoughts on how to do that. I have to do what I think is right._

_ Then come get us and take us with you. You could use the extra power._

_ I won't let you get hurt for us._

_ Because Stingmon is so much stronger than XV-mon?_

_ No, but JewelBeemon just tore an Okuwamon apart._

I got lost in my frantic messaging with Ken and didn't notice that Miyako had been getting steadily more upset until she reared her arm back to throw her D-Terminal across the room. Hawkmon grabbed at her arm, but the device went flying anyways, bouncing twice before skidding across the floor. Hawkmon and V-mon chased after it as Miyako crumpled into a heap on her sleeping bag.

I grit my teeth, suddenly wanting nothing more than to throw my own D-Terminal across the room. Since that wasn't going to help anything, I shoved it back in my pocket and turned back to Miyako. I scooted closer and awkwardly draped my arm around her shoulder. Her body was wracked with heaving sobs and were rolling down her face. She tried to shrug me off, but I just pulled her closer. She relented and collapsed into my lap. I briefly froze, unsure of what was the right course of action, but then memories of my childhood took over and ran my fingers through her lilac hair. Her breathing caught, but she didn't stop sobbing. I continued and felt her incrementally relax until her tears dried up and her breathing evened out. She'd cried herself to sleep.

"Hey, Iori can you...?" I gestured at Miyako. The raven haired boy nodded and stood up. Iori had grown a lot in the past few years and was as tall as I was now. It was hard to believe that he wasn't still that kid that had first accompanied us into the digital world all of those years ago. He had ditched the bowl cut for a shorter cut, more business like cut, which suited his age better. He had stayed lithe and lean throughout the years by maintaining a strict kendo regimen and a healthy diet. He had loosened up a bit too, although there had been something distinctly off about him lately. We hadn't spent as much time with him as we did with the others due to our adulthood, but he had pulled away too. I knew I wasn't the only one to have noticed, although, as far as I knew, no one knew why.

Iori, along with the digimon, helped me gently move the sleeping Miyako over to her pillow. She stirred briefly, but she didn't wake. I took her small, rectangular glasses from her faced and placed them and her D-Terminal next to her head. It wouldn't be long before dinner, but we'd wake her then. The sleep would be good for her.

"What happened, Daisuke?" Iori asked quietly. I rubbed my hand over my face, trying to clear away some of the stress and confusion of the last twenty minutes.

"Ken is breaking away from the rest of the group. I don't know the details, but they fought an Okuwamon and Stingmon evolved to JewelBeemon to defeat him. There was some sort of argument about what they were going to do and Ken decided that he couldn't stay." I had inferred a few of the details, but I had a feeling that they were accurate.

"I see. I take it that he is not coming back for us?"

I shook my head. "No, he's not. He said it's too dangerous. I don't agree with him, but I'm also not sure that Gennai would let us go either way."

"No, probably not." We lapsed into silence. I watched Hawkmon cuddle up next to Miyako while Iori seemed to get lost in whatever he was thinking about.

"Yen for your thoughts?" I asked. Iori blinked a few times and the cloudiness that had affected him cleared.

"Sorry?"

"I was just wondering what you were thinking about. You've been," I paused, grasping for the right word. "Withdrawn lately. I figure that I've been playing team shrink today, so I thought I'd see if everything was ok."

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew they were the wrong ones. I watched as Iori immediately shuttered, blocking anything about what was going on in his life from getting out. I fisted my hands, wanting to do something, but it was plain to see that he wasn't going to allow me to. I consciously relaxed. I wasn't going to force the situation. He needed time and I would give it.

"Everything's fine, Daisuke. I just need to get back to my schoolwork." He turned and left, leaving me alone. I went back to the television and sat down. V-mon followed and took up Miyako's empty seat. I was about to boot it back up when my D-Terminal beeped. I slipped it out of my pocket. I had several missed messages from Ken.

_We'll be ok._

_ He's strong, Dai._

_ Are you there?_

_ Is Miyako ok?_

_ Has something happened? Do we need to come back?_

_ Daisuke!_

My knuckles turned white as I gripped the plastic so hard that I could feel it start to give. I considered not messaging Ken back, but decided that I couldn't be that childish. I was an adult and I was the leader. I needed to buck up and act like it.

_ Sorry. We're fine. Do what you need to do._

I typed out the quick message and sent it before laying down on the floor. Keeping this group together was exhausting.

A/n: Sorry this one is a little late. My husband's birthday is tomorrow and celebrations have kept me away. Enjoy!


End file.
